Friday, August 3, 2012

Two weeks ago we shared with you some basic
Pinterest tips and how you can get started.

This week we drill deeper into how to use
Pinterest in more specific areas such as how to market your products and
services, and also how to generate leads and sales for your business.

Pinterest's goal is to connect
everyone in the world through the 'things' you find interesting. Things like
your favorite places, art, food, or recipes can connect you with like minded
people.

With millions of new "pins" added every
week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the globe based on shared tastes
and interests. You might have heard the expression "like attracts like"?
Well, that's Pinterest...

Pinterest seems to be the most recent, and the most talked about social network
right now.

So, how can you leverage the power of this new
platform for your Art & Design practice, and your online shop?

To leverage Pinterest firstly you need to become a member by invitation. Once
you are a member you can start learning and exploring the whole new world of
Pinterest. You will have lots of fun creating pin boards from any topic or
trends that you can imagine. Our recommendation is that you take it slowly,
learn the ropes, and brand your business at good pace.

Here are some tips:

Pin Board research - Check out the Pin
boards that you have followed and learn how they created their boards.
Use your favourite boards as inspiration and start to create your own.
Sometimes it may take you several attempts to get to the one that fits your
brand and business. Persistence will definitely pay off.

Create a board
similar to your website - Build you brand with consistency. Creating
the right theme for your business is the key to success. Ensure your
Pinterest site is aligned with your website. You can use your website and blogs
page heading as your pin board categories. Apply colour, style, and brand value
to your image and create your Pin Boards with great statement to capture
prospect followers.

ArtSHINE 's Website

Promote your
products & services - Pin all your products or services
by allocating them to a pin board product category. For example, Painting,
Prints,Greeting cards, etc. If you are doing this way, your customer can get a
wider visual perspective of all your products. Make sure each product has a
link to direct the traffic back to your shopping cart. That way, people can
make a purchase. If you are a service provider make sure it directs the traffic
to a landing, or a squeeze page, so people can contact you or leave their
details. This generates leads. Make sure each product or service image
includes pricing. Use tags so that people can easily search for your
images. And also to allow others users to post their own "pins".
Lastly add a Pinterest "Pin It" button to your own product pages and
shopping cart so people can pin your product to their pin boards.

Know your Ideal
audience - You need to develop quality content that your audience will find
engaging, interesting, and inspiring. Learn about your ideal customer and what
they like, what they do, and how they participate and present themselves on
Pinterest.

Content Engagement - Use videos
on your pin boards. Video footage is a great way to engage with your followers.
We highly recommend you pin some of your favourite videos. Pinterest lets you
highlight specific images from your blog or website – don't forget to link back
to the original site.

VIPs - Treat your followers and
customers like very important people that they are, and give them the
exclusive news. Lets say you are working on a new product, or a new artwork.
You can share it first with your followers. Find ways your followers can feel
rewarded for their loyalty to you and your business. If you have any
exclusive sneak peak of an important task or events like art work on progress,
meetings or behind the scenes at a fashion show. You followers will feel extra
special to be able to see all the tasks you do behind the scenes...

Great mix of
content - Pinterest is not about "YOU", so your focus should be
on your followers and your ideal customers. Mix up your content to make
sure your pin boards don't come across as all about you and your
business. People don't want to see or listen to you self promote your business
all the time. Try 30% focused on you, and 70% focused on others. That seems a
good equation to use when you're doing the pinning.

Inspire your
audience - Being an artist, a designer, or a crafter means that you are
constantly creating amazing products. It also means that inspiring people is
part of your role too. So, use quotes, words, video, or just beautiful
photographs to inspire your followers. Sometimes it is easy to get
carried away with pinning images, so keep every image relevant and inline with
your business. Hold true to your brand.

Be the leader in
your field - Keep content fresh and up to date. Educate your followers by
creating different educational boards to help your followers to grow by
featuring colours forecasts, fashion trends, how to do..,new big things on the
market, to celebrity tributes. Be creative with your lists of boards (you can
create as many as you want). Behave like a leader and set your own trends. If
you are up to it, you can express your own point of view as people
will follow you because of who you are and what you do. Become the main source
of information for people. This means you need to display appropriate content
on your boards and pin more original content rather than repin other people 's
content

Allow others users to post their own "pins" - Give your
followers an opportunity to upload and showcase pictures themselves with your
product, in your store, at your event or just air their views of the brand.
People love to be heard, so here’s a way to get off your own soapbox and give
them a go. This strategy has obvious risks though...

Share the Spotlight with your followers - Pin
images of your followers at your product launches, trade shows or workshop
events. You do know how it feels when you see yourself in the spotlight. Your
audience will love it too. They'll quickly share their spotlight moment with
their friends and social networks. To promote your business and your brand we
would suggest that you are branding all your photographs with your logo and web
address so that as they get repined your brand will be shared and will be come
part of the conversation.

Remember too, that working in social media is just one part of your overall
marketing strategy for your Art & Design practice.

Would you like to learn more about Social Media Marketing Strategy the ArtSHINE way?